Reserve Forces

Lord Bach: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ivor Caplin) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Building on the defence White Paper Delivering Security in a Changing World (Cm 6041-I) and our experience in the use of Reserves on operations, the Government are today announcing their vision for the future use of the Reserve Forces.
	In recent years there has been a major strategic evolution in the way we use the Reserves. We have moved from a large but little used Reserve, to a smaller, more effective one. Since 1995, the Reserves have consistently provided 10 to 15 per cent of the UK's manpower in the former Yugoslavia, they have been deployed to Afghanistan and, since January 2003, some 11,000 reservists have been mobilised to support Op TELIC. Our experience of these operations has shown that we need to define clearly the role of the Reserve Forces against the background of a changing modem world. The Future Use of the UK's Reserve Forces clearly spells out, therefore, the roles of the Volunteer Reserve Forces, the Regular Reserve Forces and the Sponsored Reserves.
	In addition we recognise that without an effective three-way partnership between the MoD, Reservists and employers, the Reserve Forces could not function to the best of their capability. The MoD is committed to supporting the development of these relationships and, building upon work already undertaken in this area, is introducing a number of aspirations as a means to strengthen them further. The document outlines our intent with regards to the way in which the Reserve Forces will be used, including greater voluntary constraints on use than exist within the relevant legislation. Whilst these aspirations will always have to be balanced against operational need, they reflect our acute awareness of the disruption that mobilisation can cause and should reassure Reservists and employers alike of our sensitivity to their circumstances. In so doing they also demonstrate our commitment to provide sustainable Reserve Forces capable of supporting operations into the future.
	Copies of the document are being placed in the Library of the House.